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<title>The True Seeker</title></head><body>

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<p>History teaches us that people of all times, races and cultures have tried to find God.</p>
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<h1 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">The True</span> Seeker</h1>
<p>There is a desire planted deep within the human heart. It is a longing for something different, something more than this world has to offer.</p>
<p>This ache is so persistent and basic that we can compare it to hunger. Just as the hunger in our stomachs tells us that our bodies were created to exist on food, so the hunger of the human spirit demonstrates that we were created for life with God.</p>
<p>Of course some people resist this hunger. They deny their need for spiritual nourishment just as some people may go on hunger strike. But eventually this leads to the body’s decay and death. In the same way, the soul that resists spiritual nourishment will finally be lost forever—an unending separation from God.</p>
<p>Most people respond to their inner spiritual hunger just as they do to physical hunger: they search for the food that will bring satisfaction.</p>
<p>But how can someone find that kind of food?</p>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">Questions</span> for the Search</h2>
<p>This question may be posed in many different ways, but the longing is always the same:</p>
<ul><li>How can I connect with my Creator?</li>
<li>What must I do to please God?</li>
<li>How can I resist the temptation to do things I later regret?</li></ul>
<p>Different cultures search for answers in different ways, but the basic quest is the same. It stems from the common condition of the human heart—a desperate need for fulfilment. The soul cannot become complete itself, or find fulfilment in the objects, people and experiences available in this world.</p>
<p>A fourth-century African called Augustine said: “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you, O God.”</p>
<p>Over 1000 years later, the French philosopher Pascal agreed when he declared: “Within every human heart there is a God-shaped vacuum.” Perhaps today as you read this you feel your hunger and wonder what it takes to be a “true seeker”.</p>
<p>If you look for answers in the world’s religions you will find sets of laws, standards or rituals to follow. These are meant to bring enlightenment, or to help you win God’s favour and remove the barriers.</p>
<p>Most seekers see God as remote and disinterested. He can’t be reached because he is too far away and too far above us. We might even believe that God does not wish to be bothered with our petty human concerns.</p>
<p>Many people see that their own hearts are unworthy. They feel that they are not good enough because of their failures, mistakes and the wrong things that they have done. We say to ourselves, “God is good but I am full of failures and do things that put distance between God and me. There is nothing I can do that will <em>ever</em> bring me closer to him.”</p>
<p>The prophet called Habakkuk, writing in the Old Testament of the Bible, said to God: <span class="bible">“You are too just to tolerate evil; you cannot approve of wrongdoing.”</span> <span class="ref">(Habakkuk 1:13)</span>* <small><span class="ref">(see last page)</span></small></p>
<p>The King David wrote: <span class="bible">“You are certainly not a God who approves of evil; evil people cannot dwell with you.”</span> <span class="ref">(Psalm 5:4)</span>.</p>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">Attracting</span> God’s Attention</h2>

<h4><span class="emph">Religious</span> rituals</h4>
<p>Some people try to get closer to God and purify themselves with religious ceremonies or disciplined self-denial. Rituals are designed to attract God’s attention and cleanse from guilt. They hope to persuade God to accept them.</p>
<p>But rituals without true devotion in the heart are meaningless. As many have discovered, God does not seem to be interested in such ritual-keeping.</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">“Do not bring any more meaningless offerings; I consider your incense detestable! You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and call holy days, but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! I hate your new moon festivals and gatherings; they are a burden that I am tired of carrying.$EL=$EL When you spread out your hands in prayer, I look the other way; when you offer your many prayers, I do not listen, because your hands are covered with blood.”</span> <span class="ref">(Isaiah 1:13-15)</span></blockquote>

<h4><span class="emph">Law</span> keeping</h4>
<p>Some people try to live a good life in an attempt to bridge the gap between themselves and God. They think that by working hard to live to the highest possible standards they might attract God’s attention and favour.</p>
<p>Religious people have done this in every age. The Christian apostle Paul tried this approach and spoke about his experience like this:</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">“I was advancing in the Jewish religion beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, and was extremely passionate for the traditions of my ancestors.”</span> <span class="ref">(Galatians 1:13-14)</span></blockquote>
<p>Paul was so committed to pursuing this life of following God’s laws that he felt he had reached the highest status a human being could reach before God.</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">“If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, I have more: I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee. In my passion for God I persecuted the church. $EL=According to the behaviour demanded by the law I was blameless.”</span> <span class="ref">(Philippians 3:4-6)</span></blockquote>
<p>If anyone could get God’s attention or earn his favour, it would have to be Paul. But Paul discovered that his devotion to law-keeping failed to open the gates of heaven. He later wrote:</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">“For no one is declared righteous before God by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”</span> <span class="ref">(Romans 3:20)</span></blockquote>
<p>But if we cannot reach God by religious rituals or dedicated law-keeping, what hope have we of finding him? Are there any other paths we may consider?</p>
<p>The answer is yes.</p>
<p>In all the noise made by many religions, there is <em>one voice</em> that stands out uniquely. That voice points to a completely different approach. This person fully acknowledged the distance between God and man that needs to be crossed. He also agreed that crossing it depends on <em>seeking.</em></p>
<p>But, he said, the true seeker is <em>not from the human side of the gap!</em></p>
<p>Instead, Jesus said that the one who found a way between God and man is none other than God himself. God builds the only bridge that can cross such a huge chasm.</p>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">Who is</span> the True Seeker?</h2>
<p>God is the <em>True Seeker</em> who is determined to follow a course that allows him to connect with a hungry, needy human race. And, according to Jesus, God will not stop until he has found lost people and brought them to himself.</p>
<p>This is the heart of Jesus’ message.</p>
<p>As much as you believe you are searching for God, the amazing thing is that he is even more interested in finding <em>you</em>. According to Jesus, he is looking for you. God’s intent is not to track everyone down for judgment, but to find people like you for adoption into his family.</p>
<p>In declaring this to be true, Jesus is not revealing something completely new. Instead he is building on something already found in the older part of the Bible, the Old Testament.</p>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">The True Seeker</span> of Those in Hiding</h2>
<p>The first example of God seeking after people soon after the creation of the world. Adam and Eve, the first man and woman disobeyed God’s clear commandment. As a result they felt shame and guilt for the first time. After they had sinned they heard God approaching, but rather than running to greet him they hid themselves in shame:</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the L<span class="smcaps">ORD</span> God moving about in the garden at the cool time of day, and they hid from the L<span class="smcaps">ORD</span> God among the trees of the garden. But the L<span class="smcaps">ORD</span> God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” The man replied, “I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”</span> <span class="ref">(Genesis 3:8-10)</span></blockquote>
<p>Significantly, it is God who calls out to <em>them</em>. It is God who seeks their companionship. When he finds them and learns of what they have done, he gives them the opportunity to change direction by confessing their sin.</p>
<p>Even though the man and woman were hiding from him, it was God who went after them in love.</p>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">The True Seeker</span> of The Traveller</h2>
<blockquote><span class="bible">The L<span class="smcaps">ORD</span> said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great”</span> <span class="ref">(Genesis 12:1-2)</span></blockquote>
<p>Here we learn of a man named Abram (later renamed Abraham) who was born and raised in the ancient Middle-East. His family religion most likely involved the worship of a moon god along with the many other gods in his culture.</p>
<p>Suddenly one day the true God revealed himself to Abraham. God called Abraham to leave behind his culture and country for a new future that God had chosen for him and his descendants.</p>
<p>The account we are given doesn’t suggest that Abraham was dissatisfied with his family’s idol worship, and so he wasn’t seeking for the one true God.</p>
<p>Instead, we discover that it is God who went after Abraham. God broke into this young man’s life in order to befriend him and bless the world through him.</p>
<p>Once again, God shows himself as the one who loves first and seeks out lost people.</p>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">The True Seeker</span> of the Servant</h2>
<p>In 1 Samuel 3, we read the story of a young boy, Samuel. He was the personal attendant of Eli, a priest of the one true God.</p>
<p>One evening as young Samuel settled down to sleep for the night, he heard a voice calling his name. Samuel thought Eli was summoning him, so he ran to his master. But Eli hadn’t called him so Samuel returned to his bed.</p>
<p>This same scene was repeated twice before Eli realized that God was the one who had been calling Samuel’s name. He told Samuel that if the voice called him again he should say, “Speak, L<span class="smcaps">ORD</span>, for your servant is listening.”</p>
<p>God did call to Samuel again. As the boy replied, a relationship began between the young servant and his Creator.</p>
<p>Samuel grew up to be a great prophet of God, all because God took the initiative to draw Samuel to himself.</p>
<p>But this love of God is not limited to a few “special” individuals.</p>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">The True Seeker</span> of Nations</h2>
<p>The prophet Ezekiel explains how God demonstrates his love for the ancient nation of Israel—Abraham’s descendants from the birth of the nation <span class="ref">(see Ezekiel 16:3-14)</span>. He says that they are like an unwanted newborn baby girl who is left in an open field to die of exposure. Many people pass by, turning away their eyes and ignoring the baby’s cries.</p>
<p>But then God passes by. He stops. He speaks the word of life to this abandoned child. He tends to her many needs and provides for her future.</p>
<p>Over time the nation grows, like a baby growing into a mature young woman. God’s faithful love was pictured like a marriage because of the way he showered the nation with gifts and attention and gave them a home.</p>
<p>All this happened because God refused to pass by the lost. Instead, he took the initiative to love a group of people who were helplessness and had nothing to offer in return.</p>
<p>This same understanding of God as the one who seeks us can be found in the nation’s songs of worship.</p>
<p>King David cries out to God like this: <span class="bible">“I have wandered off like a lost sheep. Come looking for your servant, for I do not forget your commands.”</span> <span class="ref">(Psalm 119:176)</span></p>
<p>God often describes himself as the <em>Good Shepherd</em> who searches for his scattered sheep, gathers them from the four corners of the world, brings them to his grassy fields and then cares for them:</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">For this is what the sovereign L<span class="smcaps">ORD</span> says: “Look, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="bible">“I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day. I will bring them out from among the peoples and gather them from foreign countries; I will bring them to their own land.”</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="bible">“I myself will feed my sheep and I myself will make them lie down,” declares the sovereign L<span class="smcaps">ORD</span>. “I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick”</span> <span class="ref">(Ezekiel 34:11-13a, 15-16a)</span></blockquote>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">The True Seeker</span> of Each One</h2>
<p>God’s heart of love makes him the <em>True Seeker.</em> He proved this by sending his own son Jesus into our world in his mission to seek lost people. Jesus shares in the Father’s divinity, so being willing to leave heaven for a time and come to earth was an amazing act of love.</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.</span> <span class="ref">(John 3:16)</span></blockquote>
<p>Jesus speaks of himself as the <em>Good Shepherd</em> who has come to call his sheep home to God:</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”</span> <span class="ref">(John 10:14-16)</span></blockquote>
<p>To tell us about God’s seeking heart, and his joy at finding and embracing the lost, Jesus teaches a parable about a sheep that loses its way:</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">So Jesus told them this story: “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it?</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="bible">Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="bible">Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="bible">I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents [turns to God] than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.”</span> <span class="ref">(Luke 15:3-7)</span></blockquote>
<p>Jesus again highlights God’s longing to find those who are lost by telling another story. This is about a woman with ten expensive coins who suddenly finds one missing.</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it?</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="bible">Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="bible">In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”</span> <span class="ref">(Luke 15:8-10)</span></blockquote>
<p>After searching carefully, she finds the lost coin and a great celebration takes place. In a similar way, Jesus says, all heaven celebrates every time person turns to God.</p>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">The True Seeker</span> of His Children</h2>
<p>But Jesus’ explanation of God’s heart is clearest in his his story about a lost son and a seeking father.</p>
<p>This story begins with the younger of two sons coming to his father to demand his share of the inheritance. In Jesus’ culture, this demand was a severe insult—like saying that he wished his father were dead! But his father graciously gave his son the share he was asking for.</p>
<p>With this wealth the son travelled to a far country where he wasted all his father’s money in sinful behaviour. Finally the money ran out and he was forced to take a degrading job feeding pigs just to stay alive.</p>
<p>Finally the son came to his senses. He decided to travel back home and seek his father’s forgiveness and ask to be taken back as a servant rather than a son.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, his father had spent his days longing for his son. When at last he saw his son in the distance he threw aside his dignity and ran to the boy.</p>
<p>As he neared, the son began to explain how sorry he was. But instead the father stopped him and gave orders to bring new clothes and the family ring for his son to wear. He then ordered that a huge feast be prepared, and so everyone could celebrate the coming home of this lost son.</p>
<p>When the party was in full swing, the older brother returned from work in the field and was angry about the expensive party in honour of his younger brother who had disgraced the family.</p>
<p>He refused to join in the celebration and reminded his father that even though he was the obedient, hard-working son, he had never had a party thrown for him. But this good-for-nothing younger son was being honoured as if he were a king.</p>
<p>In his response, the father revealed his heart:</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">“It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.”</span> <span class="ref">(Luke 15:32)</span></blockquote>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">The One</span> Who Seeks You</h2>
<p>Perhaps you are like the younger son. Perhaps even now you feel like you are off in a far country, very distant from God and living in a way that you know must break his heart.</p>
<p>If this is you, are you ready now to recognize how you have hurt God by your rebellion, and to resolve to turn toward him and seek his forgiveness?</p>
<p>If you do you will discover that as soon as you begin to turn in his direction, he is already running to meet you where you are. God will bring you home as his long-lost child, now found and deeply cherished.</p>
<p>Perhaps, on the other hand, your life is more like the older son. He too was lost. He lived on his father’s land, but he did not know his father’s heart. He believed that the well-being of his life depended on how hard he worked for his father.</p>
<p>And perhaps you feel God is a hard taskmaster, who never gives out free gifts but demands sweat and blood in return for a living.</p>
<p>You may not know God’s merciful heart. Still, you are invited to join the celebration. You could refuse, because of pride—or feelings of unworthiness. You may believe that any kindness from God must be won by hard work. Yet you long for the warmth of God’s joy.</p>
<p>Have you been living with the misunderstanding that you must accomplish great moral or religious achievements before God will turn toward you with kindness? Are you tired of slaving to earn his favour?</p>
<p>If you will give up your pride, and accept God’s free invitation to join the heavenly celebration, then you will discover his love which comes only to the poor in spirit—those who open their arms and cry out for his love.</p>
<p>Perhaps now you are ready to hear Jesus’ teaching about the nature of God. After all, he knows his Father’s heart better than anyone.</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.</span> <span class="ref">(John 1:18)</span></blockquote>

<h2 style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;"><span class="emph">The Love of the</span> True Seeker</h2>
<p>Jesus declares God’s love, in spite of the wrong that all of us do.</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.</span> <span class="ref">(Rom 6:23)</span></blockquote>
<p>God knows we cannot erase or undo the wrongs we have done.</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.</span> <span class="ref">(Romans 3:23)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="bible">For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="bible">(For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.)</span></blockquote>
<blockquote><span class="bible">But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.</span> <span class="ref">(Romans 5:6-8)</span></blockquote>
<p>God, the True Seeker, has provided a way to himself that bridges the gulf of guilt that separates us:</p>
<blockquote><span class="bible">Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you have known me, you will know my Father too.”</span> <span class="ref">(John 14:6-7)</span></blockquote>
<p>Jesus, as the one and only, unique Son of his heavenly Father, reveals to a lost world that God’s heart is full of love for his misguided children—including us. God’s love is so great that he was willing to allow his only Son to die—so that the world might have the opportunity of finding life through him.</p>
<p>It is because the Father is seeking to save you that he sent his Son to this fallen world. It is because Jesus loves his Father completely that he has embraced the goal of rescuing sinners from eternal judgment.</p>

<h4>Coming soon:</h4>

<h2><span class="emph">The True Seeker’s</span> Mission</h2>

<h2><span class="emph">Your Response to</span> the True Seeker</h2>

<h2><span class="emph">What You</span> Can Do Now</h2>

<h2><span class="emph">Following</span> the True Seeker</h2>

<h2><span class="emph">Knowing</span> the True Seeker</h2>
<p style="page-break-before:always; margin-top:0;">Remember, if you have any questions please contact the person who gave you this book at the address below:</p>
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<tr>
<th>Newlife Church, Toronto<br />phone: <strong>416-515-7575</strong><br />email: <strong>info@nlife.ca</strong><br />web: <strong>nlife.ca</strong></th></tr>
</thead></table>

<p>* All statements/sections in bold typeface are from the Bible. You can find them by looking up the reference listed at the end of the passage.</p>
<p>** To help you locate these books of the Bible, there is a table of contents in the front of every Bible.</p>
<hr />

<p class="small">Written by Mateen Elass, rewritten by Andrew Fountain. (Scripture quotations from the NET Bible)</p>


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